The maiden of Ludmir
Subtitle: a Jewish holy woman and her world
By: Nathaniel Deutsch ; foreword by Janusz Bardach
Series: The S. Mark Taper Foundation imprint in Jewish studies
Publisher: University of California Press
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Berkeley; London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
ISBN-13: 9780520231917
Subjects: Zaddikot; Rabbinerin; Women rabbis; Literatur; Chassidisme; Rezeption; Chassidismus; Biography
Description: "Hannah Rochel Verbermacher, a Hasidic holy woman known as the Maiden of Ludmir, was born in early-nineteenth-century Russia and became famous as the only woman in the three-hundred-year history of Hasidism to function as a rebbe - or charismatic leader - in her own right. Nathaniel Deutsch follows the traces left by the Maiden in both history and legend to fully explore her fascinating story for the first time. The Maiden of Ludmir offers powerful insights into the Jewish mystical tradition, into the Maiden's place within it, and into the remarkable Jewish community of Ludmir. Her biography ultimately becomes a provocative meditation on the complex relationships between history and memory, Judaism and modernity."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-298) and index.
Table of contents: title: Foreword  -- Janusz Bardach; title: Introduction: Ansky Visits Ludmir --; title: A Dybbuk Trilogy, or How the Maiden of Ludmir Became a Literary Figure --; title: Writing the Maiden --; title: Afterlives: Remembering the Maiden --; title: The Curse, the Cossacks, and the Messiah: Ludmir Before the Maiden --; title: Birth and Childhood --; title: Love and Death --; title: The Maiden Possessed --; title: False Male and Woman Rebbe? --; title: The Witch-hunt in Ludmir --; title: The Wedding and Its Aftermath --; title: In the Holy Land --; title: Conclusion: Tracing the Maiden --; title: Afterword: Journey to Ludmir.